This program is for children under 18 who:
- Have an intellectual or developmental disability (I/DD) or are on the waitlist for the Children’s Intensive In-home Services’ (CIIS) medically fragile or medically involved waivers, and
- Are in service groups 5m or 5b on their Oregon Needs Assessment.
Parents and guardians must be able to work legally in the United States.
Children in the Healthier Oregon program are not eligible.
About 1,500 children may be eligible for the program. In May 2024, ODDS will send letters to these families. The letters will explain the process more.
The program only has enough money to serve 155 children at once. ODDS will randomly select 155 from the 1,500 children. These families will have first choice to join the program. The Office of Developmental Disability Services (ODDS) will send letters to these families in May. Each child’s services coordinator will contact the family to talk about their options. Families will have about two months to decide to join.
Children with numbers higher than 155 will go on the program’s waitlist.
Children with numbers 1 to 155 will have the option to join the program. If they want to, ODDS will check to see if they meet the criteria. If they do, the parent or guardian can be hired as a paid caregiver. They will take training and get a criminal background check. Families will also update their child’s Individual Support Plan.
Each child can get up to 20 hours of paid care per week from their parent caregivers. If there is more than one parent caregiver, they can share the hours. Paid caregivers have different rules to follow than parents. These are explained in the
Frequently Asked Questions.
Talk to your child’s services coordinator to start the process. If your child is on the Children’s Intensive In-home Services (CIIS) waitlist, their staff will help you.
More information:
Not being selected is likely very frustrating, angering and disappointing. We know many families on the waitlist were strong advocates for this program. The program exists because of your perseverance and hard work. Thank you for your advocacy.
After the program runs for a year, we will be able to know the true cost per child. We may be able to increase the number of children served. However, under the current budget of $3 million per year, we won't be able to cover the 1,500 children who may be eligible. In order to serve more children beyond the current budget, the Legislature would need to approve more funding.
If you need help getting other support, please contact your child’s services coordinator. If your child is on the waitlist for a CIIS program, please email
ciis.referrals@odhs.oregon.gov.
- The order of the waitlist will not change.
- Your child will move up the list as spots in the program open. This means your child’s number will get smaller. When they reach number one on the waitlist, they are first in line.
- We don’t know how fast the waitlist will move.
- ODDS will send a letter to families on the waitlist to fill open spots in the program in August 2024. The letter will explain how to join the program. Services coordinators will also be notified. They will contact families with next steps.
- Starting in September 2024, ODDS will send services coordinators an updated waitlist each month. Families can contact service coordinators to find out their child’s place on the waitlist. If your child is on the referral list for a CIIS program, please email ciis.referrals@odhs.oregon.gov.
- After August 2024, any child can join the waitlist. To do so, talk to your child's services coordinator or email
cenprogram@odhs.oregon.gov. We will add them to the end of the current list.
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Week of May 13, 2024: ODDS sends letters to families of all 1,500 children who may be eligible.
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Week of May 20, 2024: ODDS sends letters to families of the 155 selected.
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The week of May 27, 2024: ODDS sends letters to families of children who were not selected. This letter will explain how the waitlist works.
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July 1, 2024: Earliest date to start working as paid caregivers.
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July 19, 2024: Last day for the 155 families to tell their services coordinator they want to join.
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August 2024: ODDS contacts families on the waitlist to fill any open spots in the program. A letter will explain next steps and when they need to decide.
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Sep. 15, 2024: Paid caregivers must be hired by this date. Provider agencies can ask for more time if needed. This deadline is only for the 155 children contacted in May.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Find a provider agency
Agencies listed below are interested in hiring parent caregivers. Use the
search box to search by agency name or county. You can also
filter by service area. Be sure to click "Add filter."
Training for parents and guardians
ODDS will have an intro training for parents and guardians of the 155 children selected for the program. It will be online through Zoom. You must register ahead of time. You will get a confirmation email with directions to join the training. Please attend one of the three sessions below. This training is required before you can become a paid parent provider.
Children's Extraordinary Needs Waiver Parent Provider Training
History of the program
In July 2023, the Oregon government passed a law called
Senate Bill 91. This law told ODDS to ask the federal government for permission to pay parents who take care of their children with disabilities. We listened to what parents and other people had to say about this idea. We had meetings and asked for opinions through a survey. We used what we learned to write and revise the request to the federal government. In January 2024, we sent the
request to the federal government. And in May, the federal government said yes. This means the program will start helping families July 1, 2024.